There is no novel idea

by maddrunkgenius

Except, perhaps, in insanity. All else is repetition, interpretation, and reinvention.

Originality is saying an old idea well, putting it into the proper words for a particular audience. Great originality is to make one’s audience the universe.

When the Old Testament prophets said that everyone was subject to God’s law, this was insanity. Ridiculous nonsense some Jewish hermit in a cave heard in a voice in his head while he shat down his own leg. But he preached it, openly and to many, and someone took the idea, mulled on it, and either shared it or wrote it down himself into something coherent.

There’s nothing bad about this, but it does have to stay rare. Marginalize insanity as much as possible, but mix it some more when things get stale. Most of the time, we’re going to rehash and refine, and enjoy it. That’s why every movie and video game is a sequel, why most books worth reading contain allusions to previous works, or why reboots are so common. That was myths for thousands of years, before coherent narratives, continuity, or plagiarism existed.

It eventually tends to the cliche, because even the wittiest idea becomes cliche if repeated enough. But that’s when the fresh insanity sweeps in and jumbles everything all over again.